rainbow chard lemon-garlic fettuccine

back with a new recipe. i have been cooking during my blog absence, but mostly just recipes i've already shared. so many people contributed to me getting up the creative energy to make this happen: my dad, a big meat and potatoes kind of guy, actually cooked a vegan meal for my birthday. thanks dad! my mom, who made him cook that meal :), and also once again went out her way to get me some rocking pappardelle pasta for my birthday. my brother, who got me a kick-ass ceramic knife which made this meal possible. (plus, he brought me over 20 pounds of asparagus this year). my csa, greely gardens, which started this weekend (yay!). and of course, my husband, who always graciously tries my recipes and smiles through it all. plus, he drove to store and got the mushrooms. whew, sounds like i a won an academy award or something... moving on to the food!

• 4-5 rainbow chard leaves
• 2 inch garlic scape, sliced
• 10-12 button mushrooms, sliced
• 6 oz. roasted garlic Pappardelle fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup Drew's Lemon Goddess dressing

in a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and cook pasta for 8 minutes. drain then rinse with warm water. set aside.

trim stems from the chard and tear the leaves into fourths.  in a small pot, boil 2 cups of water and add stems for 3-4 minutes to tenderize. remove from heat and drain.
slice garlic scape into thin medallions, almost like scallions. in a large skillet on medium heat, sauté the garlic and chard stems in olive oil. after 2-3 minutes, add in chard leaves and about an 1/8 cup of water. cover with lid to wilt stems. when the leaves have reduced, remove lid and add the sliced mushrooms. continue sautéing on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

in a pasta bowl, toss the fettuccine noodles with 1/2 cup of the lemon goddess dressing. the noodles should be well-coated and will separate. add in the chard and mushroom saute, as well as up to another 1/4 cup of dressing as needed. serve warm.

vegan mofo: mom's first vegan meal

my mom is pretty chill about my vegan diet.  my pops was whipping up chicken enchiladas for the family and my mom went out of her way to make vegan ones for me.  this was a couple years ago, but i kept the picture because it was awesome and it was made with some serious love.

status: heart warming.

why i'm including it:  don't get a lot of vegan meals cooked for me, and this was just a act of foodie love by my mom.  plus she introduced me to a vegan cheddar that actually melts!

would i make it again:  i would, but i'm waiting on mom to make it again.  hint hint, mama.

fusilli with butternut squash

the lack of posts lately are due to a combination of nice weather and some much needed vacation. i recently went to austin, tx to visit my aunt and walked a 10k with my grandma (who is almost 80!), my mom, and aunt. i had tons of vegan food while i was there (austin rocks for vegans). the night before the 10k, my aunt (who is a fabulous chef) whipped up this delicious pasta dish so we could carb-load. she made a goat cheese sauce for the rest of the family, but set aside some for me.  i added some raw parmesan and it was delicious!

• 1 pound fusilli pasta
• 1 butternut squash
• 1/2 small onion
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 3/4 cup fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup parma raw parmesan

first peel and cube the butternut squash. place on a foil-lined baking and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, making sure each piece is coated. please in an oven at 425°f for 40 minutes. while the squash is baking, slice your onion and drizzle with olive oil on another foil-lined sheet. place in the oven for 25 minutes (with about half of the squash time left). honestly, i'm not a huge fan of onions, but they work well in this dish. ours got a little burnt, but i actually really liked the crispy flavor, so cook the onion to your preference.

while both of these are roasting, prepare the rest of the ingredients. cook pasta according to directions. chop walnuts and place on a baking sheet - these will need to roast in the oven at 425°f for about 5-6 minutes. wash and chop the basil.

when the pasta is done boiling, combine all the ingredients in one bowl and toss. i used some of the olive oil from the butternut squash pan to coat the pasta. finally toss in the parma, or your favourite vegan parmesan, and serve!

cupcake memories

i've wanted to make these fauxstess cupcakes (from vwav) since the day i went vegan. for one, they look freakin' rockin! and second, i have the greatest memories of eating them when i was a little girl. my mom would always buy a package of these (they come two to a pack), and we'd split them. man, i remember them being soooo good. maybe it's because when you share something, it tastes twice as awesome.


nowadays, i don't really have a taste for the sweets, but i did want to make these as a special treat for my mom. the funny story is that i starting making them last year for mother's day... i bought all the special ingredients, set aside a chunk of time, and baked the cupcake. before i could ice them, they had to cool, so i set them on the counter and went for a run. that was the last i ever saw of them - one of my dogs decided i had made them for him and devoured every last one. (at first i was freaked, but he's 90 pounds and the little bit of cocoa powder didn't seem to bother him).

anyways, it took me quite a bit of time to recover from that trauma, and i made them again this week (watching the dogs at every step). yes, they take some time, but they were so worth my mom's excitement! happy birthday mom!

smoked chicken & spicy red pepper pasta

i wish i could give my mom an award for being such a great vegan supporter, and i know a lot of my fellow bloggers feel the same about their moms. she brought me hot mustard from ireland, buys vegan mozzarella when we make our xmas lasagna every year, and also bought me pappardelle's mild spice red pepper pasta for my birthday this year. pappardelle's is all natural, small-batch pasta and it makes me one happy vegan italian!

• 1/2 pound pappardelle's mild spice red pepper pasta
• 1 cup roasted red peppers
• 4 slices of jalapenos
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cup of veggie broth
• 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon hickory smoke
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy
• 1 batch seitan cutlets from vcon

after prepping your seitan cutlets, place them on a pre-heated cast iron grill pan. baste one side with 1 tablespoon liquid smoke mixed with 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce. grill on low or bake at 375 for 5 minutes on each side. when flipping, baste other side with smoky mixture.

while cutlets are cooking, combine red peppers, jalapenos, garlic and veggie broth in a food processor. if using jarred roasted red peppers, be sure and drain oil/water before adding. once everything is well blended, transfer to a large deep skillet (or a sauce pan will work in a pinch). cut up the cooked cutlets into strips and place in the skillet as well. simmer the cutlets on low to medium for approximately 15 , stirring often- turn heat down if the mixture starts to boil.

after sauce is thoroughly heated, add soymilk and cornstarch to thicken. continue heating for another minute or so, then remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. serve cutlets and sauce over pasta. i know the picture isn't all that glamorous, but trust me, this is one tasty dish.

hot mustard asparagus

my mom is a pretty cool chick. she is super supportive of my vegan lifestyle, and that's saying a lot considering we live in the heart of meat and potatoes land. she's always willing to go out for a vegetarian or vegan meal, and even requested veggie sushi for mother's day. this year she went to ireland and managed to bring back some vegan hot irish mustard from avoca pantry - which rocks because i love mustard and i love spicy foods. so hats off to my mom and all her rockin'ness.

• 1 pound asparagus
• 2 tablespoons hot irish mustard*
• 2 tablespoons hot scottish mustard*
  

i saved a few pounds of the asparagus that my brother gave me, so i this made from thawed asparagus (notice they are less stiff). however, i can say that i'm mighty impressed with how well they taste after a month or two of being frozen. cut the woody ends off your asparagus and coat with at least three tablespoons of hot mustard (*work with what you have, but make it spicy)! i also had some hot scottish mustard from arran, and the two worked very well together. if you are using fresh asparagus, you may need to add a little olive oil if necessary or reduce baking time.

if using frozen (and thawed) asparagus, bake for 25 minutes on 375°f, flipping once. kick the broiler on high for about 5 minutes and spread a little additional mustard on top before serving.